Customer Reviews

America's Prophet: Moses and the American Story

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I absolutely love Bruce Feiler's books. I've read most of them so far, and I find them compelling and incredibly interesting. His books Walking the Bible, Where God Was Born, and Abraham are amazing works of non-fiction in which Bruce Feiler actually goes to the Middle East and visits locales from the Bible and tries to make a spiritual connection with them. Though I'm not Christian or Jewish, I've always been very interested in the Bible, and his books really captured my imagination.

America's Prophet is a very interesting book about the figure of Moses in the history of America. When I first got this book, I was a bit confused because I didn't think Moses had much of a place in American history. I can't believe how wrong I was - again and again, Moses comes up as a figure of inspiration, someone to lead us through troubled times to a Promised Land. Americans see themselves in the story of Moses, even now. It's really incredible to read about.

My favorite part of America's Prophet was when Feiler retraced part of the Underground Railroad. He went out in the middle of the night and literally darted between alleyways and buildings, trying to get a sense of what it was like. Of course, he only followed a very short part of the Railroad, but I was so impressed by his need to become part of the story. I've admired and been a fan of Bruce Feiler's for a very long time, but this really showed me how much he immerses himself in the stories he's writing about.

If you are interested in the Bible, even just in a secular sense like me, you must pick up Bruce Feiler's books. Though he is Jewish, his words about faith and spirituality cross all religious boundaries. His travels to find and connect with actual places in the Bible are wonderful to read about, and his discussion of history is simply fascinating. Even if you don't normally like non-fiction, you should try Bruce Feiler's books. He really is a not-to-be-missed author, and America's Prophet is no exception. I enjoyed it very much and already can't wait for his next book to be released!

Mr. Feiler developes a great thesis in this book, that Moses was a guiding figure in American history, significantly more so than even Jesus. To get there, he starts with the Pilgrims and runs to present day.

In addition to the theorizing, Mr. Feiler throws in some very interesting and seldom seen history. For example, he gives the history of the Pilgrim's first church service on Clark Island before they founded Plymouth and the "real" history of the Liberty Bell. Other events captured well were the underground railroad, M.L. King's assassination and the Statute of Liberty - all of which, of course, he relates to the Moses story. These historical insights carried the book and gives the reader history lessons in addition to serving as examples to substantiate his theory.

He also buttresses his theory with excellent examples of speeches and sermons that used Moses as the symbol of America as a whole as well as specific groups Americans. He captures how both the Exodus Moses and the "chosen" people of the Old Testament were common themes in the history of the United States and how Americans - black and white - saw themselves. He further shows how those principles applied to everyone from the Pilgrims, to Lincoln and slaves to twentieth century immigrants.

My only criticism is that he often became redundant, giving four or five examples when one or two would do. He often repeated his points and recapped his chain of logic. It seemed a thesis "paper" was stretched into book length.

This criticism notwithstanding, this is a novel and interesting look at American history with some rarely seen tidbits of history thrown into the mix to makle it interesting.

What do the Puritans, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, the Statue of Liberty, Cecil B. DeMille, and Martin Luther King Jr. have in common?

Moses.

In America's Prophet, Bruce Feiler reveals the Mosaic thread that weaves its way through the tapestry of American history. Along the way, we see a Jewish history becoming the American story becoming a universal narrative of hope. The book is utterly engrossing, and I recommend it highly.

The American appropriation of Moses begins with the Puritans. They viewed King James as Pharaoh, themselves as the Children of Israel, and the New World as the Promised Land. But if the sailing of the Mayflower was their exodus, the signing of the Mayflower Compact was their Sinai. Moses was not only a liberator, he was a lawgiver. The twin Mosaic themes of freedom and responsibility recur again and again in the American story. George Washington, for example, both led his people out of British tyranny and into constitutional responsibility. Martin Luther King Jr. both led African Americans out of Jim Crow segregation and into the "beloved community."

The Moses narrative has spoken powerfully to the American people because, historically speaking, they have been nominally Christian and biblically literate. The Civil War was, in some ways, a theological dispute. Would Moses side with the abolitionists and lead the slaves in an Exodus toward freedom? Or would he side with the slaveholders, since the Sinai law accommodated slavery? Debates couldn't settle the question; only war could. And at the end of it, Abraham Lincoln was acclaimed as yet another Moses.

So was Martin Luther King Jr. who led the way for the full integration of African Americans into American society that the Civil War only inaugurated. And like Moses, who went only as far as Nebo and never made it into the Promised Land, King himself would never experience the substantial progress made on his dream after his assassination in Memphis, Tennessee. But on the eve of his death, speaking at Mason Temple, he nevertheless said: "I have seen the promised land. And I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight, that we as a people will get to the promised land."

America was not just a Promised Land for African Americans. It was also a Promised Land for immigrants, many of them Jews fleeing eastern European pogroms, who sailed into New York Harbor under the watchful eye of Lady Liberty. Feiler points out the substantial Mosaic influence on even the architecture of this icon, but also through the words of Emma Lazarus' poem, "New Colossus."

In addition to the influence of the Mosaic narrative on politics, Feiler considers its influence in popular culture. Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments, starring Charlton Heston, was a Cold War battle cry, calling America to submit itself to God's will rather than Communist tyranny. Paramount studios even financed the placement of granite 10 Commandments monuments on courthouse lawns throughout America. One of them, in Austin, Texas, became the focus of a Supreme Court lawsuit. Two Jewish boys, Jerry Seigel and Joe Shuster, incorporated Mosaic themes into their best-known superhero: Superman. And even earlier, at the start of the 20th Century, Bruce Barton turned both Jesus and Moses into a model entrepreneur and executive, respectively. The Metropolitan Casual Life Insurance Company published Moses, Persuader of Men, which described Moses as "one of the greatest salesmen and real-estate promotes that ever lived."

Why does Moses keep cropping up in American history (in ways both sublime and ridiculous)? In his conclusion, Feiler points to three factors. As already mentioned, the Moses narrative is one of both liberation and responsibility, of freedom from and freedom for. It is also a narrative of inclusion. As Feiler writes, "the Israelites' experience with oppression becomes the foundation for a host of Mosaic laws that mandate that God's people care for the poor, tend the sick, comfort the grieving, and welcome the hurting into their arms."

America is perpetually roiled by the place of religion in public culture. Feiler's book shows how the use of the biblical narrative of Moses has been put to use for good and bad in American history (or both at the same time, in the case of the Civil War)--but mostly for good. As our culture becomes more religiously diverse, one wonders whether the Moses narrative can accomplish some good still.

Feiler traces the uses to which the character Moses has been put during the entire American experience - from the Pilgrims to the Civil Rights movement. His prose is eminently readable and enjoyable, and his history is accurate. More impressive, his research strategies exceed the traditional techniques of library search; he goes into unusual places (like the crown of the Statue of Liberty or a home on the Ohio River that was a stop on the Underground Railroad) and emerges with novel and frequently amusing insights and anecdotes. This is a wonderful book that every American ought to read.

Once again, Bruce Feiler has done a remarkable job of taking us on a journey through a topic most authors would never think of pursuing. Who would ever think of Moses as being America's prophet? Yet, Feiler takes us from our very beginnings with the Pilgrims up to the present day. When he finishes his account there will be no doubt in your mind as to how influential Moses was to our country's foundation, moral thought and positive direction.
Many people have difficulty accepting our nation's Judeo-Christian roots yet I believe in reading this book you will see that input regardless of your religious beliefs.
The author takes a number of bench marks in our history and through some very good research shows us how each event ties into the life, teachings, and dreams of Moses. I think it helps to have some knowledge of the Bible to make Feiler's account more understandable. Yet, even without that, the reader can still see the tie in to each main character and event. No doubt, the story of Moses and his search for deliverance and freedom affected the Pilgrims, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King and almost all of our presidents. Feiler expands on these few events and characters and how they drew upon the teachings and direction of Moses as he led his people to freedom, law and morality. This is an excellent account of history most of us never touch upon. I have to agree...Moses could be called America's Prophet.

"America's Prophet" is probably one of the most original and though provoking books in recent memory, falling clearly into the realm of history of ideas, philosophy, history of philosophy, and religion, but even those categories are far too limiting. Feiler's hypothesis is that Moses serves as America's prophet, the guiding spirit of the American experience and the driving force from colonial times to the present. Ponder that for a moment. Think of the Pilgrims, the Puritans, and the Cavaliers; all set out in search of the promised land, a sense of fulfillment and destiny, a land to reshape and refashion in their image. It certainly sounds biblical doesn't it? From Governor Winthrop's "Shining City on a Hill" to the present many American political and spiritual leaders have reverberated the ideas of Moses, the Exodus, the wandering in the desert, and deliverance into the Promised Land. Whether it is the early Mayflower passengers, fugitive slaves on the Underground Railroad, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., or the American Civil War, the United States continuously echoes with refrains from Moses. Moses becomes the quintessential American touchstone, unifying force, and shared touchstone. The idea sounds a little farfetched until you start reading and then you realize the one continuing thread through American history is the recurring theme of Moses.

In many respects "America's Prophet" reminds me greatly of Louis Menand's wonderful The Metaphysical Club: A Story of Ideas in America which won the Pulitzer Prize some years ago. Like Menand, Feiler is making some pretty large claims here, but if you can get past the usual complaints of "American Exceptionalism" that might likely arise, "America's Prophet" is VERY enjoyable and will certainly get you think about the influence the Mosaic passages from the Bible has had, and continues to have, on our nation. Rather than being hard to follow like many books on philosophy or the history of ideas, Feiler is easy to follow for the layman, and quite enjoyable as well as profoundly thought provoking!

I was delighted that a book I learned about from Diane Rehm's interview December 22, 2009 with Bruce Feiler, is such an extraordinary read.

Well organized, so that each chapter could stand on its, with a personal narrative woven throughout, Feiler draws the major American cultural and historical events connected to Moses -- in Egypt, at Pesach, around the Golden Calf, and at Mt. Nebo. Particularly challenging to some will be the reflections on Martin Luther King, Jr., perhaps because we are still so close to him so that living witnesses abound, and perhaps because, as Feiler notes, there is a considerable cultural mythologizing practice going on around the memory and meaning of MLK. For most of his other material, there is enough historical distance so that even those who disagree with his interpretations can, nonetheless, read, ponder, and go away being little disturbed.

He draws the Puritans close and the Beecher family even closer. He reenacts the midnight winter passage across the Ohio River and tries to live into the contemporary meaning-making around the Underground Railroad. There are, of course, many other cultural connections and claims made upon Moses; but Feiler beautifully focuses his lens on a handful of significant periods and events in American history.

I'll probably preach and teach from insights and facts crammed into this book for the next twenty years. I highly recommend this book for reflective reading, for group study, and for consideration in your family's or community's next iteration of the haggadah.

When you think of America's Founding Fathers, several names come to mind; Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and countless other leaders of the era. One name that probably doesn't pop up in your thoughts quickly is Moses. But that will change when you read Bruce Feiler's latest book, "America's Prophet." In these pages he makes a persuasive argument that Moses has been the thread connecting American history since the first Pilgrims landed on the Atlantic Shore. Through almost four centuries, Moses has been the common symbol of the struggle for freedom--from the Pilgrims to the colonists to the fight against slavery, right up through the 20th century Civil Rights movement.

Much of this will be familiar to even casual students of the history of the United States (the famous inscription on the Liberty Bell), but there are some revelations here as well. Did you know that three of the founders proposed a Great Seal for the United States that featured the image of Moses?

Feiler's storytelling technique will be familiar to anyone who has read his previous books, especially those dealing with the Bible. We venture forth at his side as he climbs the tower where the Liberty Bell once hung, retraces the path of the Underground Railroad and slips into a Masonic Service. We watch as he puts on the robe Charlton Heston wore during his turn as Moses in the film epic the Ten Commandments, which has been carefully preserved among the artifacts of the C.B. DeMille estate.

In these pages, Feiler shows that the story of Moses continues to provide inspiration to generation after generation, in part because it is mutable; sometimes he's the stern lawgiver; in other eras he is the voice of the oppressed masses. But his story endures, Feiler concludes, because it is a narrative of hope.--William C. Hall

AMERICA'S PROPHET: MOSES AND THE AMERICAN STORY examines the symbolic foundations of the establishment of the United States and proceeding periods that helped shape and influence American society within biblical parameters. For those who have read or studied history, Writer Bruce Feiler's sentiments reflect upon present impressions of current economic and social upheavals, possibly another phase of a Great Awakening with a tinge of observation that resonates perceptions of the nineteenth century, though through a twenty-first century lens; a perception that Mark Twain wrote and observed with the Promised Land in mind.

The most interesting part about the book is Feiler's examination of the American history narrative that spans over 400 years and the material culture that has been interpreted within spacious and monumental forms. Indeed, the bulk of the book places emphasis on the Founding Fathers and the complex religious relationship to Moses that draws connections and importance to religion and history. Feiler's explanations and detailed discussion of the symbolic meaning behind each historic monument gauges one's imagination, especially with the legendary illustrations that accompany the book; afterwards, there is no doubt readers will see beyond the photograph or painting and may be more familiar with Emma Lazarus, Daniel Boone, Cecil B. DeMille, and many others.

Overall, Feiler brings history alive beyond mythical proportions. His engaging and lively narrative allows readers a better understanding of the names, places, ideas, and material culture that have evolved throughout American history. Indeed, this is not a textbook rendering, but reexamines and delves deeper within the American history narrative.

An interesting look at American history and the prophet Moses. Mr. Feiler (pronounced feeler) takes a close look at American history and the people and monuments that have been likened to the prophet Moses. It surprised me to see exactly how much Moses had been connected with the history and events that have shaped America to date. To find out that even our comic books have been drawn from the Exodus, Moses and God's chosen people was eye opening. Mr. Feiler begins in Jamestown and continues through the civil rights movement with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Mr. Feiler's commentary on the events and writings is colored from a progressive political viewpoint which he tried, and did for the most part keep to a minimum. The only problem I see with Mr. Feiler is the same I have with most of God's chosen people. He does not look at the Scriptures as being Divinely inspired and has the opinion that most are stories and are not completely true, that Scribes throughout time have rewritten history to make Moses and the other prophets look better than they truly were, which I find is sad. Overall the book is good read and is rich with America's history.